($H,i.  gipe^i-*/ 


;^^^jL^ 


^Ob 


r 

#>5 


Ouke   University   Libraries 

Circular  letter 
Con)  Pam  q*«9 


i:     ■i|6oo  •  TO 


^Lql  fi\  [n^ir<3 


iJ 


fMm  m  mmm  (i^mmmA. 


HEAD  QUARTERS, 


i^o/mnma^ 


^x  I 


C'^^^C^, 


/^Ss. 


J^Jn   "^JtA   foaxcff<cn<;t/-   t^^i-ovei-no^ 


Sir:  It  is  evident  that  tlic  success  of  this  groat  revolution  will  depend,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the 
exertion  of  the  different  States  of  our  Confederacy,  and  their  cordial  union  upon  great  and  leading  measures  by 
which  the  most  efficient  support  may  be  given  to  the  Central  Govcrninont  of  the  Confederacy. 

Our  new  Confederated  Government  had  to  be  formed  under  the  most  embarrassing  circumstances,  and  has 
done  as  much  perhaps,  as  could  have  been  done,  but  the  magnitude  of  the  war,  together  with  the  blockade  of 
our  ports,  has  put  it  almost  beyond  our  power  to  meet  the  enemy  at  evcrj'  point  around  our  vast  and  extensive 
boundaries. 

We  have  recently  met  with  reverses,  and  unless  the  States  bring  forward  their  power  and  resources  to  sus- 
tain the  common  Government,  and  put  forth  all  their  local  energies  to  defend  our  organization,  we  will  feel 
the  filial  consequences.  I  desire,  therefore,  most  respectfully  to  solicit  your  views  freely  as  to  any  measures 
which  you  think  we  could  adopt  to  sustain  the  Confederate  Government,  and  to  draw  out  effecMvely  the  com- 
bined resources  of  the  States  for  our  common  defence.  With  that  view,  I  will,  in  the  first  place,  with  great 
deference,  suggest  what  I  think  we  might  at  least  consider  as  amongst  the  measures  that  may  be  urged  for 
adoption. 

We  perhaps  ought  to  agree  upon  some  general  system  by  which  the  whole  male  white  population  of  the  dif- 

s  ferent  States,  from  sixteen   to  fifty,  should   be  enumerated,  properly  classified,  and  held  ready,  under  an   equal 

1  plan  of  conscription]  to  be  called  into  active  service  whenever  required.     If  a  common   plan  could   be  agreed 

'r    upon  by  all  the  States,  it  would  then  place  all  soldiers  upon  the  same  footing,  without  distinction.     The  volun. 

•/'"^'"^'A^hacnn'^  system  did  well  at  first,  but  if  we  are  to  have  a  protracted  war,  it  is  unjust  that  the  more  spirited  and 

"2   ^/^,trf  ^     eager  should  do  all  the  fighting,  and  leave  tho.se  who  are  not  so  willing,  to  devote  themselves  to  making  money 

^e^-^"  ^   out  of  the  difficulties  of  the  country.     If  all  the  States  would,  in  like  manner,  airree  upon  the  same  mode  as  to 

a.,  f/i^    ^/^clection  or  appointment  of  officers,  it  would  produce  the  best  feelings,  and   tend   to  make  us  a   perfectly  united 

ytt.-G^^-.-^    people. 


7T- 


jA^^-^.y  «"■ 


yL/- 


If  we  could  have  the  means  of  knowing  the   local   resources  of  the  diflercnt  States  as  to  making  arms  and 


/■  ii 


ammunition,  and  manufacturing  proper  supplies  for  our  armies,  it  might  be  of  great  mutual  service  to  each, 


.^/., 


/f 


^^^^«<^    /~M^-t  i^»»wt- .•' 


/i^. 


/r^ 


2 

for  what  one  State  might  abound  in,  another  uiiirht  not,  and  vice  versn  ;  we  could  then  as^ree  to  assist  each  other 
by  allowinir  purchases  and  sup;ilics  from  all  the  States  alike,  without  any  local  restriction  whatever. 

Wc  could  also  mutually  agree,  by  concert  of  action,  to  charter  vessels  jointly,  and  purchase  and  send  out 
S  produce  as  States,  for  the  purpose  of  ordering  and  importing  arms,  ammunition  and  supplies  from  abroad,  to 
N  the  mutual  benefit  of  all,  according  to  the  funds  supjiliod  by  each.  .Vnd  in  this  way  our  interior  sister  States 
would  receive  the  same  advantages  and  benefits  as  the  Atlantic  or  (iulf  States.  It  may  be  obviously  improper 
for  individuals  to  be  allowed  to  ship  produce  at  their  discretion,  unle-s  to  pay  for  arms,  ammunition  or  military 
supplies  procured,  or  certainly  to  be  procured,  and  even  then,  under  thoso  restrictions,  the  operation,  if  perse- 
vered in,  will  produce  jealousy  amongst  individuals,  and  suspicions  of  favoritism  ;  whereas,  if  the  States  were 
to  do  it,  in  this  revolution,  they  alone  would  receive  all  the  benefits;  nml  il'  there  should  be  any  profits  in  the 
shipment  of  produce,  it  would  be  for  the  States  alone.  By  the  States  acting  together  in  this  matter,  great 
results  might  be  produced,  not  only  in  the  importation  of  arais,  and  so  forth,  but,  if  known  in  Kurope,  might 
enable  us  to  make  such  contracts  or  arrangements  as  would,  in  their  results,  break  the  blockade  by  inducing 
foreigners  to  make  the  venture  in  return.  In  this  emergency,  it  belongs  to  the  States  to  take  the  control  of 
J  produce  for  the  public  benefit,  .\gain,  we  might  agree  to  establish  foundries  for  casting  cannon,  and  so  forth, 
and  establish  the  manufacture  of  small  arms  on  a  large  svale,  by  concert  of  action,  which  could  not  be  done 
otherwise. 

It  might  be  advisable,  in  a  groat  emergency,  for  us  to  consult  and  agree  upon  some  system  by  which  the 
S  credit  or  paper  obligations  of  the  different  States  should  be  mutually  sustained,  and  received  by  each  and  every 
Jl      1  State  alike,  and,  if  necessary,  that  these  obligations  should  be  mutually  sustained  in  Europe,  so  that  the  regular 
payment  of  the  interest  upon  any  bonds  of  the  separate  States  shall  be  certainly  secured  in  the  foreign  market. 
A  great  central  or  interior  Camp  must  also  be  established  at  some  .safe  and  healthy  point,  to  be  kept  up 
to  at  least  one  hundred  thousand   men.     Permanent  Barracks  and  large  permanent    Hospitals  must  be   built 
(  there.     This  Camp  must  Ijc  an  entrenched  Camp,  connected  with  an  inner  eirclo  of  defences  or  a  second  line  of 
;    defences,  so  that  the   heart  of  our  Confederacy  shall  always  feel   secure  in   any  great  reverse.     This  will  give 
confidence,  and   will  free  the  country  from  perpetual   panics,  exaggerated  by    the   timid  or  ignorant,   and  tend 
greatly  to  keep  down  disaffection.     Each  State  should  furnish  its  quota  to  this  great  interior  Camp,  and  all  new 
recruits  should  be  first  sent  there  for  drill  and   instruction,  and  to  be  allowed  t.)  pa.ss  through  the  usual  camp 
diseases.   Let  them  there  be  organized  into  Comjianies,  Battalions  and  Regiments,  and  those  longest  in  this  Camp 
always  moved  to  the  frontier  at  any  point  where  a  disaster  may  happen,  or  when  more  forces  may  be  required, 
■so  that  we  will  never  throw  raw   Regiments  upon  the  frontier  to  encounter  certain  disea.se  or  defeat,  from  want 
of  drill  or  experience.     Extensive  Hospitals  should  be  establi-shcd  at  or  near  this  Camp,  where  all  those  men 
who  might  be  sick  or  wounded,   and  require  long  furloughs,   may  be  sent,  and   put  under  proper  medical  or 
/surgical   treatment,  and    held    under   military   orders,   instead   of  being  furloughed    and   going   home.     These 
I  furloughs  have  caused  us  to  lose  more  men  than  we  lose  in  battle.     By  bringing   them  to  a  great  central  IIos- 
>^  pital  they  will  be  kept  ready  for  duty  whenever  they  recover.     The  probability  is  that  we  may  have  a  protracted    \  \ 
war,  and  if  so,  there  must  be  large  and  permanent  establishments  for  our  immense  armies,  and  we  owe  it  to  the   J 
brave  men  who  are  in  the  field  to  let  them  know  that  the  best  provisions  are  made  for  their  comfort  and  protec- 
tion.  It  is  evident  our  enemies  intend  to  wage  a  war  of  permanent  conquest,  and  it  is  essential  to  their  existence    L 
^that  they  shall.     Our  independence  is  their  ruin.     Our   success   inevitably   ends  in   their  bankruptcy  and 
desolation.     Their  success,  in  lii<e  manner,  is  not  only  our  ruin,  but  our  infamous  degradation.    It  is,  at  i)rcsent, 
!    difficult  to  perceive  any  point  upon   which   negotiations  for  peace  could  commence.     There  may  be  the  inter-   . 
position  of  foreign  powers,  but  it  will  be  after  both  parties  are  so  exhausted  that  they  will  be  able  to  interfere  as  > 


3 

Quasi  I'roliriordtes.  Under  the  treaty  by  wliich  the  First  Napoleon  ecded  Louisiana,  the  protection  of 
jiroperty  and  personal  rights  was  guaranteed  to  the  citizens  of  the  ceded  territory.  The  time  may  come  when 
the  present  sagacious  Emperor  of  the  French  may  interfere  and  assert  tlie  doctrine  that  the  country  West  of 
the  Mississippi  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  of  America  as  a  Government,  and  that  as  such  a  Government 
may  then  be  destroj'ed  by  being  broken  into  separate  combinations,  and  also  that  the  rights  of  persons  and 
property  may  be  destroyed,  he  will  interfere,  and  assume  the  exercise  of  the  power  resulting  from  reverted  or 
lapsed  sovereignty.  But  all  these  foreign  issues  that  may  arise  will  be  as  deeply  important  to  us  as  even  our  \ 
conquest  by  the  North.  Xo  human  sagacity  can  see  at  present  what  may  lay  before  us.  It  is  clear,  in  any  point' 
of  view,  that  our  very  existence,  as  a  free  people,  is  now  immediately  involved  in  the  terrible  conflict  upon  which 
we  seem  to  be  just  entering.  Although  I  have  often  emjuired  and  written  on  the  subject,  yet  I  have  never  been 
informed  of  any  great  plan  upon  which  we  are  to  rest  for  defence.  If  I  could  have  been  informed  of  any,  even 
of  the  outlines  of  such  a  plan.  I  should  not  have  troubled  you  with  this  letter,  but  would  have  contented  myself 
with  acting  in  concert  with  the  authorities  and  suggestions  of  the  Confederate  Government,  and  would  have 
cheerfully  and  cordially  exerted  all  the  power  I  might  have  to  bring  the  resources  of  South  Carolina  to  aid  in 
the  measures  that  might  be  proposed. 

Under  existing  circumstances,  it  strikes  me  that  the  Executives  of  the  different  States  should  immediately 
communicate  to  each  other  their  views,  freely  and  frankly,  and  then  meet  together  at  some  convenient 
point,  and  agree  upon  some  great  and  leading  mea.<;ures  by  whiili  our  difTcrcnt  States  could  be  brought  to  act  in 
concert,  and  cordially  in  a  course,  when  the  existence  of  each  depends  now  upon  the  combination  of  the  whole. 
We  must  provide  for  an  inner  or  seccuid  circle  of  defence,  and  a  great  central  camp  for  trainin"-  our  men  and 
allowing  them  to  pass  through  the  usual  camp  diseases.  The  whole  male  white  population  of  all  the  States  fit^ 
for  military  duty  must  be  organized  upon  some  general  and  equal  plan  "for  and  during  the  war."  Unless  we' 
.are  prepared  to  put  up  at  lea,st  half  the  property  of  the  citizens  of  the  different  States,  and  to  put  our  whole 
)  force,  liable  to  duty,  into  immediate  organization,  we  will  never  be  able  to  meet  the  difficulties  before  us  without 
disgrace  and  disaster. 

Nothing  but  a  sense  of  duty  and  the  great  dangers  with   which  our  country  is  surrounded,  prompts  mc  to 
write  you  thus  freely  and  fully. 

It  would  afl'ord  me  great  satisfaction  to  receive  in  reply  any  suggestions  that  you  may  think  proper.  I 
only  most  respectfully  present  my  views,  but  am  ready,  at  a  moment,  to  yield  any  of  them,  and  to  adopt  any 
others  that  may  appear  more  wise  and  proper.  If  it  is  suitable  to  your  views  that  we  should  meet  at  some 
convenient  point  for  free  and  confidential  conference,  I  would  be  most  happy  for  j-ou  to  suefest  the  time  that 
you  may  think  best.  I  would  respectfully  suggest  the  twentieth  of  April,  or  sooner,  if  convenient. 
T  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

Vour  most  obedient  servant,  ^    / 

'  t 


v.  S.  I  have  .sent  a  coi.y  of  this  letter  to  each  (iovernor  of  the  Confederate  States.  I'erhaps  public  en- 
gagements may  make  it  impossible  for  us  to  meet  at  all,  and  I  would  therefore  respectfully  request  a  full  and 
free  interchange  of  views,  by  correspondence,  upon  which  we  may  be  able  to  form  some  definite  system  of 
action.  Of  course,  if  anything  is  done  towards  forming  an  inner  or  secondary  circle  of  defence,  it  must  be 
done  with  the  approbation  of  the  Confcderaic  Authorities,  and  wc  will  net  freely  in  aid  of  them. 


y . 


c 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


r^.  /it 


http://www.archive.org/details/circularlettercaOOsout 


p€Rnulife« 

pH8.5 


